{"id":25,"date":"2021-01-14T17:00:12","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T22:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/truth-politics-democracy-first-year-seminar-spring2021\/?page_id=25"},"modified":"2021-04-21T10:32:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T14:32:47","slug":"fighting-for-truth","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/truth-politics-democracy-first-year-seminar-spring2021\/fighting-for-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"“Gimme some Truth”"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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If you don’t know the song on which this section of our seminar is based, listen HERE<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We will consider diverse ways in which one can fight for the truth.\u00a0 However, we also encounter an age-old paradox.\u00a0 To defend the truth, someone must play the role of the defender.\u00a0\u00a0But who is to say that this individual, political regime, or–yes–internet corporation is equipped to act as the arbiter of truth.\u00a0 Indeed, what is to prevent them from putting their own interests above the principles they claim to defend?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

19. Tuesday, April 13: Tools and techniques for distinguishing fact from fiction, lies, disinformation, and bizarro conspiracies<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Today, I would like to address the issue of fact-checking in an era of Post-Truth and conspiracy theories.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Your suggested tools for correcting disinformation and lies on social media are on the link to the right side of this page<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

20. Thursday, April 15:\u00a0 Allowing others to take responsibility for defending the Truth<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What role should the leaders of global communications networks play in defending the Truth? In this section, we will reflect on two themes: the policies of digital giants and their potential political and social implications<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I.<\/strong> Before January 6, 2021<\/em>, the heads of Google, Twitter, and Facebook responded to the challenge of controlling digital content in provocatively different ways. Which approach would you choose?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Please read the following articles. There are a lot of them but they are short.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Compare and contrast these short articles from 2019 and after January 6, 2021:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Before the Presidential election:<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Cecilia Kang\u00a0and\u00a0Mike Isaac, \u201cDefiant Zuckerberg says Facebook won\u2019t police free speech\u201d\u00a0\u00a0PRINT AND READ<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Kate Conger, \u201cTwitter will ban all political ads, CEO Jack Dorsey says\u201d\u00a0PRINT AND READ<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And after January 6, 2021<\/em>:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Twitter pulls the plug on Trump: TWEET<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But, Facebook isn’t so sure: HERE<\/a><\/p>\r\n

For inspiration read this article: Emma O’Connor, “America just experienced a coup, but it wasn’t by Trump,” Revolver<\/em> HERE<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

II.<\/strong> How comfortable should we feel about putting the task of discerning the Truth into the hands of global communications corporations?\u00a0 This is a good occasion to meditate on\u00a0Fahrenheit 451<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Amnesty International Report,\u00a0Surveillance Giants\u00a0<\/em>READ<\/a>\u00a0pp. 5-11 and skim the rest<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Caitlin Dewey,\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>, August 19, 2016, \u201c98 personal data points that Facebook uses to target ads to you\u201d\u00a0\u00a0READ<\/a>\u00a0 If politics is about power, this is a lot of power!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Could these data points be 98 good reasons for shutting down your Facebook account?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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See this journal abstract confirming that computers can know you better than anyone else\u00a0READ SUMMARY HERE<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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21. Tuesday, April 20:\u00a0 The Second Great Debate!<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Topic: “The Facebook Oversight Committee should definitely uphold the ban on Donald Trump in the name of protecting American democracy.”<\/p>\r\n

For relevant articles (all short), see the following:<\/p>\r\n

Facebook decision after January 6, 2020: READ<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Facebook “Community Standards” HERE<\/a><\/p>\r\n

An Impending Decision:\u00a0 READ<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Contrasting arguments:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

PRO<\/a><\/p>\r\n

v.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

CON<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

And this is frustrating for people who actually need to decide one way or the other.\u00a0 It’s hard, but sometimes in life, you just have to choose\u00a0 READ<\/a><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Your second essay assignment is HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

22. Thursday, April 22: Public Engagement in Defense of Truth<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

I have decided that we won’t meet for class today.\u00a0 However, please feel free to read all of these articles.\u00a0 I may assign some of them for one of our future classes.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Can participatory democracy provide the solution to safeguarding the Truth? Is Truth-seeking from the ground up possible?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In this session, consider the unique croudsourced experiment in Truth-telling called Wikipedia.\u00a0 Also, please remind me to tell you what it\u2019s like to be banned by Wikipedia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What standards does the participatory encyclopedia, Wikipedia, employ to determine \u201cwhat\u2019s fit to print\u201d? How are these standards upheld?\u00a0 Please choose the most controversial political issue you can think of (e.g., the Arab-Israel conflict) and attempt to determine whether Wikipedia\u2019s respective site lives up to its pretensions \u201cto\u00a0 provide a\u00a0neutrally written<\/a>\u00a0summary of\u00a0existing mainstream knowledge<\/a>\u00a0in a fair and\u00a0accurate manner<\/a>\u00a0with a straightforward, \u201c\u2018just-the-facts style.\u2019<\/a>\u201d\u00a0 If your site meets these standards, see if you can find one that doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Sophia Rosenfeld,\u00a0Democracy and Truth A Short History<\/em>, pp. 73-91.<\/p>\r\n

Wikipedia\u2019s Mission Statement\u00a0READ AND PRINT<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Alex Pasternack, \u201cHow Wikipedia\u2019s volunteers became the web\u2019s best weapon against misinformation\u201d\u00a0PRINT AND READ<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Richard Cooke, \u201cWikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet\u201d\u00a0READ<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

To pique your curiosity, see if you can figure out why certain Wikipedia sites ranked among the 5000 most accessed pages over the past week.\u00a0 The page is regularly updated. I was fascinated by both the topics and their rankings\u00a0HERE<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In this post (from January 27, 2021), Aaron Hernandez was the most accessed person (I have no idea why). Betty White (76) beat Donald Trump (77), but came in behind Jimmy Hoffa (69). I gave up looking for Biden.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you don’t know the song on which this section of our seminar is based, listen HERE We will consider diverse ways in which one can fight for the truth.\u00a0 However, we also encounter an age-old paradox.\u00a0 To defend the truth, someone must play the role of the defender.\u00a0\u00a0But who is to say that this … Continue reading ““Gimme some Truth””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-25","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/truth-politics-democracy-first-year-seminar-spring2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/truth-politics-democracy-first-year-seminar-spring2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/truth-politics-democracy-first-year-seminar-spring2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/truth-politics-democracy-first-year-seminar-spring2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/truth-politics-democracy-first-year-seminar-spring2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/truth-politics-democracy-first-year-seminar-spring2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":527,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/truth-politics-democracy-first-year-seminar-spring2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25\/revisions\/527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/truth-politics-democracy-first-year-seminar-spring2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}